While the prior art has contemplated a variety of thermoplastic bag dispenser systems, none apparently have contemplated a system wherein the container is configured to dispense a laterally folded bag individually from a bag stack, thereby allowing the dispensing a bag of greater length than the dispensing container.
The dimensions of a bag dispenser stack are of important significance, in that it influences the overall efficiency of the system with regard to storage and handling. A compact bag dispenser stack is desirable, as it allows for more efficient storage and easier handling by the end user, which often may comprise "check out girls" and the like who may not have the size or strength to handle larger bag stacks.
A list of prior patents which may be of interest is presented below:
______________________________________ Patent No. Patentee(s) Issue Date ______________________________________ 3,640,450 Lieberman 02/1972 4,476,979 Reimann et al 10/1984 4,493,419 Prader et al 01/1985 4,595,389 Lehmacher 06/1986 4,613,988 Maddock 09/1986 4,759,639 DeMatteis 07/1988 ______________________________________
Further, the prior art fails to contemplate a bag dispenser system configured for dispensing bags in an individual, open capacity, that system utilizing friction means for communicating with the second, lower wall of the bag, while the upper, first wall of the bag is being removed in longitudinal fashion from the bag stack and container.
Use of the container in a dispensing capacity for thermoplastic bags is not entirely new. For example, Cupples.RTM. of La Mirada, Calif. sells a thermoplastic bag dispensing system wherein the container is utilized for dispensing the bags. However, the Cupples.RTM. and other known like systems do not contemplate the lateral folding dispenser system of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,639 issued 1988 to DeMatteis teaches what is believed to be the some of the technology utilized in the Cupples.RTM. dispensing system. Unlike the present invention, the '639 system requires the tearing off of tabs on the bags during the release process, which may weaken the bag structure by causing stress fractures, causing failure of the bag. Further, the prior art has yet to contemplate the lateral folding structure of the present system, wherein there is provided a more compact and less elongated dispensing container.
In addition, all of the above disclosed patents teach dispensing systems which include in some degree tabs or perforated areas in their respective bag stacks, for dispensing of each bag, increasing the possibility of failure for these systems.
As thermoplastic bags tend to rupture with the slightest cut, it is suggested that the optimal bag dispensing system dispense with the requirement of release tabs and perforations, thereby avoiding the possibility of defect. While the prior art fails in this regard, the present invention provides a cost effective, environmentally sound, and safe system for dispensing bags, wherein the bags are conveniently dispensed whole and without tabs or perforations, decreasing the probability of rupture, as well as excess waste plastic, in the form of unused tab material.
Further, unlike the prior art, the present invention teaches a compact, efficient, more easily handled dispenser container, while allowing for the relatively easy, individual dispensing of larger bags from smaller bag stack dispensing containers.